Contemplatives in Action Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel United States, Philippines, and Timor-Leste
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Contemplatives in Action Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel United States, Philippines, and timor-leste January, 2014 Volume 25, Number 1 Teresa the Pilgrim “What is a pilgrimage? In 2015, the ...A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken in the light of a story.” Carmelite family will (Paul Elie, from The Life You Save May Be Your Own) celebrate the fifth centenary of the birth Ten years ago I had the privilege of making a pilgrimage in the light of Carmel’s of Teresa of Avila. story. One grace-filled memory from that journey is of a bronze sculpture of St. Teresa of Avila, which stands outside the Convent of the Incarnation. With her Plans are underway to walking staff in her left hand, she is stepping with determination toward some begin the year of unknown destination. I carried home a small preparation in 2014. replica of the statue which is pictured in this article. With that in mind, we Teresa, the Woman of Prayer, the Doctor of invited some of our the Church, this Teresa I have known and loved sisters to share their for years. But it was Teresa, the Pilgrim, who called experience of Teresa. me to attention on that long-ago day and who attracts me today. Her pilgrimages, both inner and outer, were undertaken in the light of her love story, her “friendship with God whom we know loves us.” I have learned so much from Teresa as a guide on the inner journey; I believe that the way she navigated her outer journeys also has lessons for us. Not especially a lover of travel, Teresa none- the-less journeyed extensively to establish fifteen In This Issue Carmels throughout Spain. Those journeys were fraught with the difficulties of 16th century travel. Poor roads were the norm. Once she tumbled out of the carriage, Teresa the Pilgrm 1-2 prompting her oft-quoted response to the Lord, “If this is how you treat your friends, Message from the no wonder you have so few.” The inns in which she and her companions stayed Administration 2 overnight were worse. She once described hell as “a night in a poor inn”! Never a Jubilarians of 2013 3-5 woman in good health, Teresa suffered from headaches and the cold when she In Memory Of 6-10 traveled. Sometimes she and her guides got lost. Why would a woman who desired to shape a life that would nurture the contemplative in herself and her sisters, In Honor Of 10-11 choose to be a pilgrim? News of Note 11-13, 15 The answer is simple and Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD describes it succinctly in his introduction to the Foundations: “…She was traveling for an ideal…” Clear Timor-Leste Update 14 in her own mind and heart that God was asking her to provide foundations where Ministry to Lay Carmelites 15 continued on p. 2 Message from the Administration As I was re-reading the Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel, translated by David Lewis, I found myself in deep appreciation of how independent, enlightened and strong willed a woman St. Teresa of Avila was. She was a great spiritual leader during her time, being the only female theologian who was published in the sixteenth century in Spain. She was a woman who stood for and defended her own mystical experiences and reformed Carmel in the midst of all the political constrictions of the clerical and patriarchal hierarchy. Journeying with our young sisters in formation was a great challenge for me. However, it was a great opportunity and a privilege. It required a total self-giving and necessitated spiritual leadership qualities. Like St. Teresa of Avila, who reformed her community in Carmel in hopes of returning her nuns to a wholesome form of living out religious life and a wholesome witnessing to Christianity, formators help those in formation recommit to the values of poverty and simplicity. She journeyed with her sisters through strict discipline, but with genuine love and common sense. Formation ministry entails a deeper discernment in seeking the will of God and complete trust in the Holy Spirit to guide the formator, to be able to journey with and guide our young sisters in accordance with the will of God for each one of them. It is the responsibility of the fomator to provide them with the right tools that will aid them in developing their own inner self and grow in their personal relationship with their God, and with the people around them. Formators are to help them see and recognize their own human limitations and sinfulness and feel God’s compassionate and overflowing love for them and provide them with the environment to recognize and develop the gifts and talents that God has uniquely given to each one of them. We are to guide them as they learn to discern God’s calling for each of them and grow in their chosen life commitment. As I look back over those years when I was in this ministry, I have come to accept the reality that not everybody you journey with in formation will stay in religious life, but what is important is that they have grown in knowing themselves and are better able to see and recognize the will of God for them; then they become a better person. Sister Maria Sheila Undang resides in Lacombe, LA and serves as assistant to the president of the Congregation. Teresa the Pilgrim continued from cover women (and also the friars) could serve God through prayer, Teresa was determined to make the outer pilgrimages a part of her inner pilgrimage to God. In this she is a model for us – sisters and lay friends of Carmel. Our lives cannot (and probably should not) consist in dwelling quietly in some little corner walled off from the world. We, too, are called to bring the Carmelite ideal to others, leaving the familiar and embracing the new. I see Teresa’s determination to embrace both pilgrimages most clearly witnessed today in the willingness of our Sisters Mailyn Batocabe and Remedios Natonton to journey to Timor-Leste. Like Teresa, they know the discomforts of travel over rocky roads; like Teresa they know the strain of establishing a new foundation in an unknown place; like Teresa they are establishing good relations with their lay helpers; like Teresa they are determined to tell the Carmelite story, to live the Carmelite ideal in a new place; like Teresa may they navigate the interior and exterior journeys with the prayerful awareness of God’s companionship, with good humor and with determination to bring the ideal of Carmel to all. May we all undertake our inner and outer pilgrimages in the light of our shared Carmelite story. Sister Elizabeth Fitzpatrick resides in New Orleans, LA and is the Executive Director (Vicar) of Religious, Archdiocese of New Orleans. 2 Jubilarians of 2013 Sister Ann Carmel Segura, born Levie Annette in Segura, LA, is the second of four children of the late Albin Joseph Segura and Adelaide Llewellyn Eaton. She entered Carmel in 1930 and professed first vows in 1933. Sister Ann Carmel attended Mount Carmel Elementary, New Iberia and graduated from Mount Carmel High School, Lafayette. She received a bachelor’s degree in Music from Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies and Education from Southwestern University, Lafayette. She also holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Notre Dame, IN. Sister Ann Carmel devoted 49 years to Catholic education. She has taught biology, vocal music, English, social studies and art in Mount Carmel Schools in Thibodaux, Lafayette, Abbeville and New Iberia. Sister also served as directress of the postulants and novices from 1962-1967. She received many awards at juried art shows for her paintings. At present Sister Ann Carmel is retired and living at St. Leo-Seton Convent in Lafayette, LA. This year marks Sister Ann Carmel’s 100 years of birth and eighty years of vows. Sister Laura Melancon, born Dolores Cecile in Lafayette, LA, is the only child of the late J. Vilmore Melancon and Mabel Connelly. She entered religious life in 1950 and professed first vows in 1953. Sister Laura attended Mount Carmel Elementary and Mount Carmel High School, Lafayette, LA. She went on to receive a B.S. and a Master of Education from Loyola, New Orleans, and an advanced specialized degree in Religious Studies from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. Sister has devoted 53 years to Catholic Education as a teacher and principal. She has served as congregation formation director and taught at Notre Dame Seminary. Sister Laura is currently a minister to the sick at St. Genevieve’s Parish and serves as Spiritual Assistant to the Lay Carmelites, Lafayette, LA. She celebrates sixty years of vows. Sister Lourdes Calleja, formerly Sister M. Vincent Ferrer, was born in Lagaspi City, Albay, Philippines and is the first of seven children born to the late Marciano D. Calleja and Paz Lorenzo. She entered the congregation in 1960 and professed first vows in 1963. Sister attended Legaspi Port Elementary and Legaspi Junior College (High School), Legaspi City, Philippines. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dominican College, New Orleans, LA, a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from University of the East, Manila, and a Master of Education degree from Nicholls State, Thibodaux, LA. Sister Lourdes has served as Philippine Regional Coordinator (1997-2005), Formation Directress for the Philippine Region, as Director of the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies, and has done pastoral and retreat work as well as organizing the Justice and Peace Action Group in the Philippines.